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The ARL Commission is ready to push back a call on expansion as they postpone meetings with the bidding parties for at least a fortnight and prioritise keeping the premiership afloat.
The three expansion aspirants – Redcliffe Dolphins, the Brisbane Firehawks and Brishane Jets – were due to present to the full commission on Monday but the latest Covid outbreak in Sydney left the game’s powerbrokers with little choice but to redirect their energies.
Talks with the respective bidders will now be held later this month, forcing the commission to delay a decision on a 17th team until August at the earliest. The commission had originally planned to discuss the respective bid presentations at a meeting on Tuesday before making a decision at the end of July.
That meeting is now expected to be dominated by the game’s response to the latest Covid threat, which has forced the NRL to put the clubs back in high-level biosecurity protocols and created a significant degree of uncertainty around the destination of the third State of Origin game.
That match is scheduled to be held at Stadium Australian in just over two weeks but there is every chance it will be moved, with McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle the likely destination provided the NRL is able to have spectators at the game.
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys confirmed talks with the three expansion bids had been delayed for the foreseeable future as the game navigated its way through the latest Covid threat.
“We postponed that because at the moment our priority is to keep the competition going,” V’landys said.
“We were supposed to meet the (Brisbane Broncos) and we postponed that as well. All hands are on deck. This virus is significantly more contagious than the previous one.
“We have to make sure we have a more detailed plan. We’re not going to take any risks. We have to be very cautious.”
Asked when the talks with the expansion aspirants would go ahead, V’landys said it was too difficult at the moment to provide a time frame.
“We will talk about it tomorrow,” he said.
“I don’t want to set a finite date at the moment.”
The news will come as a blow to Redcliffe and the Brisbane Firehawks, but could breathe new life into the Brisbane Jets bid as they attempt to secure the financial muscle to compete with their expansion rivals.
The Australian last week revealed that the Jets had sent a confidential tender document to investors and sponsors seeking to shore up their finances in the lead-up to a decision by the ARL Commission on the 17th licence.
The Jets have now been given some additional time to make the numbers stack up, although revelations of their financial uncertainty has left them as the outsiders in the process given the cash both Redcliffe and the Firehawks have at their disposal.
The delay in a decision will also leave the successful bidder with less time to piece together their roster for 2023, although the likes of Kalyn Ponga, Viliame Kikau and Ryan Papenhuyzen could potentially be up for grabs.
If Queensland Rugby League chair Bruce Hatcher had his way, expansion would be delayed for much, much longer. Hatcher remains an advocate for partial relocation of an existing Sydney club, whereby they play a significant number of their home games at Suncorp Stadium, before eventually moving operations to Brisbane.
“It is too early and I want a strategic alliance,” Hatcher said.
“Above all else, we need a game at (Suncorp Stadium) every week. I really don’t see how just creating another team is going to add anything.
“If you create a new team, I cannot believe it can be competitive in one year. I would prefer to have a transition period where a strategic alliance is done with a Sydney club and then at the end of three years we see how it has gone financially.
“Then it becomes an obvious answer that they can merge.”
www.theaustralian.com.au
The three expansion aspirants – Redcliffe Dolphins, the Brisbane Firehawks and Brishane Jets – were due to present to the full commission on Monday but the latest Covid outbreak in Sydney left the game’s powerbrokers with little choice but to redirect their energies.
Talks with the respective bidders will now be held later this month, forcing the commission to delay a decision on a 17th team until August at the earliest. The commission had originally planned to discuss the respective bid presentations at a meeting on Tuesday before making a decision at the end of July.
That meeting is now expected to be dominated by the game’s response to the latest Covid threat, which has forced the NRL to put the clubs back in high-level biosecurity protocols and created a significant degree of uncertainty around the destination of the third State of Origin game.
That match is scheduled to be held at Stadium Australian in just over two weeks but there is every chance it will be moved, with McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle the likely destination provided the NRL is able to have spectators at the game.
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys confirmed talks with the three expansion bids had been delayed for the foreseeable future as the game navigated its way through the latest Covid threat.
“We postponed that because at the moment our priority is to keep the competition going,” V’landys said.
“We were supposed to meet the (Brisbane Broncos) and we postponed that as well. All hands are on deck. This virus is significantly more contagious than the previous one.
“We have to make sure we have a more detailed plan. We’re not going to take any risks. We have to be very cautious.”
Asked when the talks with the expansion aspirants would go ahead, V’landys said it was too difficult at the moment to provide a time frame.
“We will talk about it tomorrow,” he said.
“I don’t want to set a finite date at the moment.”
The news will come as a blow to Redcliffe and the Brisbane Firehawks, but could breathe new life into the Brisbane Jets bid as they attempt to secure the financial muscle to compete with their expansion rivals.
The Australian last week revealed that the Jets had sent a confidential tender document to investors and sponsors seeking to shore up their finances in the lead-up to a decision by the ARL Commission on the 17th licence.
The Jets have now been given some additional time to make the numbers stack up, although revelations of their financial uncertainty has left them as the outsiders in the process given the cash both Redcliffe and the Firehawks have at their disposal.
The delay in a decision will also leave the successful bidder with less time to piece together their roster for 2023, although the likes of Kalyn Ponga, Viliame Kikau and Ryan Papenhuyzen could potentially be up for grabs.
If Queensland Rugby League chair Bruce Hatcher had his way, expansion would be delayed for much, much longer. Hatcher remains an advocate for partial relocation of an existing Sydney club, whereby they play a significant number of their home games at Suncorp Stadium, before eventually moving operations to Brisbane.
“It is too early and I want a strategic alliance,” Hatcher said.
“Above all else, we need a game at (Suncorp Stadium) every week. I really don’t see how just creating another team is going to add anything.
“If you create a new team, I cannot believe it can be competitive in one year. I would prefer to have a transition period where a strategic alliance is done with a Sydney club and then at the end of three years we see how it has gone financially.
“Then it becomes an obvious answer that they can merge.”
NoCookies | The Australian
www.theaustralian.com.au
